Steve

Sorry, slight delay owing to ongoing nightmare elsewhere... I'm trying to sell a mobile home which is currently at my place near Les Herolles, and I've had a couple of potential buyers who can't be bothered to sort out transport themselves, but want an inclusive price (and I can't blame them). Ideally there'd be a company fairly local who would be able to give a price at short notice to wherever the prospective buyer lives. I did get a price from a company based in Le Havre who quoted 790€ to move it to Ineuil (138 km) ...

I bought a place with a friend in Normandy last year, and it turns out we don't have quite the same outlook on life.... Does anyone know the legal position with regard to selling? I want out, but my co-owner doesn't want to sell. We are not related, not a household, we're just (ex) friends sharing the costs.

Sorry Will, I don't know how I didn't thank you - I think I just got caught up in the ongoing nightmare. 18 months later, and I've spent another 30K euros with another set of greedy incompetent builders and the barn is still very far from finished (though the roof is now insulated!) So, a very tardy thanks   8-)

Does anyone know of a company that trasnports mobile homes at a reasonable price?

Thanks Clair  8-) I asked in all the obvious places like the bricos, but they just told me to go to double-glazing outfits...

I need to replace some window panes - about 30... and I'd prefer to use laminated glass. Does anyone know where I could buy it, cut to size? I'm near Vire Thanks, Steve

It's probably overpriced, as most property is now. Having land is good - there are fewer buyers but there is almost nothing available with more than about 5000sqm. Advertise it on green-acres, where buyers can specify how much land they want. http://www.green-acres.com/en/advanced_search.htm I've been looking for a year for a place in Normandy, and when I find something I like, offer about 60% of the asking price. Some places are so ridiculously overpriced I don't bother. I've looked at hundreds or thousands of places on the web and via agents and notaires, and very few prices are realistic. There are still stupid people who will pay silly prices but not many. As a guide, I value an ordinary 3 bed farmhouse (which is what I'm looking for) in reasonable condition at about 90-100K euros. Outbuildings at 5K unless large or in /very/ good condition. Good (not scrub/vertical/swamp) land is 3-5K. Location matters, but only as a carrot to buy. Busy roads are out, as are nearby dead villages/towns. Ignore what the estate agents tell you - in fact ignore estate agents altogether - they'll add 10-15% to your price making it even less attractive. Advertise on the web (totalfrance is free). I've just arranged to buy a nice house in good condition, with 2.5 ha of good land and four good  outbuildings, for 130K. I'm currently living in a semi-converted barn in Indre, and although I've spent over 100K euros on buying and renovating it, I have to accept that it's worth only 80K, which is what I advertised it for, and I have two buyers at that price

What is the tax situation when selling? I have been renovating a barn for 4 years. Incompetence, laziness and theft mean that I've spent about 50k euros on top of the original 38K price, but only about 20K to registered builders. It's still far from habitable. AIUI until last year you could claim cost of materials plus 3xCoM in labour for work you did yourself. Does that not count at all now? I'm currently looking at an offer of 70K, so I'll be losing 20K anyway; but will I also be paying tax on the 32K notional 'profit' less the 20K reg builders costs? The barn is my only owned property - I'm living nearby in a rented place. So can I claim that it's my main residence (and if I did, would that open up a whole new can of worms)? I pay taxe d'habitation.

They are called tirons. You should be able to get them at a builders merchants. Failing that try this extremely nice and helpful bloke in Lussac les Eglises: Jean-Luc (Bricofer) : 05 55 60 16 00

Thanks John. I've been to the track in Poitiers (also small and twisty) which was also OK. Having done a bit of webhopping I've found one in Usseau (near Chatellerault) which seems longer and maybe a bit more interesting: http://perso.orange.fr/karting.loisir.86/intro.html

Is there a good turn-up-and-go kart track somewhere near here (Le Blanc)? I've seen web pages for Mezieres and some other places but they're pretty vague.. or even quad bike tracks?

Ah, ok, thanks both. We're a bit disorganised - we only decided to move over there two weeks ago after a chance meeting with our future employer, so things are a bit upside-down. I'm looking forward to some calm... Cheers, steve

Are there any car boots or cheap markets near Montmorillon? We're moving over on Thursday and will need to furnish our new place very cheaply for the moment. Any ideas?